#steiner scout lance

[c-billbaby]

An account of that most famous of Lyran formations.

So here we is in the middle of a jungle doing a right fine sneakaroo around the flank of a big ol battle when we gets word we's coming up on none other than a Steiner scout lance. This gets us all aquiver, them mechy boys with the fear and us grunts with the joy. You see me lads, there's very little for a fine and clever battle armor jockey such as meself to fear from an Atlas in a jungle such as this. You see they is big and slow and like to get caught up in vines and bogs and such while we bound lickety split with our jumpyjoos and has ourselves a climb up a leg to say our friendly hellos. And if they spots us too early well, off we go whence we came, too nimble for a chase.

So there I is, having meself a sneak towards a sensory blipper when I spots a great big ol leg and I thinks to meself that it's time to play the tick. Now sadly this mech jockey ain't now clown and he spots me fine self and I see a turn and a bit of the old laser cuttin' through trees and I know it's me time to scamper, sos I does. Turn and burn and off I go never to be heard from again. Or so I thinks.

The bloke starts a followin at a dead speint and here's me burning the jets for all they're worth and bouncing off of tree trunks and landing on some kind of panther, the fleshy kind, at one point I thinks. And still this blighter is following, and not only following, but gaining ground. It ain't a minute before a big assault mech boot comes right down in front of me BOOM and I smacks right into it.

So I looks up at this towering doom above me and he looks down and damned me black soul if I'm lookin at an Atlas. No sir what's starin' me down as death hisself is a Zeus in his pretty white and blue.

While I am all stunned that behemoth raises up his right arm and points that murderous muzzle at me not three meters away and BAM! The world goes all white and my ears is ringing and I'm staring up at the sky from the bottom of a meter deep crater in the jungle floor.

Now I ain't too badly hurt, cept for me ears roarin cause it takes more than a pop from the old Defiance J to crack the venerable IS Standard, but I knows when I been beat and I hops on open comms and I says, "Pardon me sir, but I have learned me lesson and admit me mistake and I shan't be doin it again of that you can be most sure."

And what does he do after me most sincere and heartfelt apology but he brings up that beehive of a right hand of his, presses it down against me helpless chest, lets fly. I am beaten about most savage by long range missiles well within their minimum arming distance, them engines flaring and smashing themselves against me until I am left buried under several hundred kilos of broken missile and me with only a claw meant for ripping and gouging and a laser for burning and neither one too kind a prospect to dig meself out when I'm all covered in leaking rocket fuel and high explosive.

So don't let them tales of Atlases fool you, like. Some of them scouts is for real dangerous

[doolallymagpie]

how much of the BattleTech AU is gonna be “and then Bobbie did something that makes Grayson Carlyle look like a chump”, I wonder

[agbpaints]

Alright gang only one more mini from the SL command lance left and I'm having trouble deciding how to paint it so I'm putting it up for a poll. Should I do it in the canonical scheme of a legendary mechwarrior (Nikky K's Unity, Dev Stone's Phantom), SLDF olive drab, or should I finish the Famous Skeleton Steiner Scout Lance (suggest a skeleton if you have one you want to see!)

[luminous-warrior]

Relating to the trend of "Choose an item from my room" polls, here's a different one.

[commandzone]

I bought a box :)

only uncommons, rares and foils listed

pack 1

judge magister gabranth

delivery moogle

opera love song

pupu ufo

genji glove

FOIL torgal a fine houndb

pack 2

eden seat of the sanctum

locke cole

barret wallace

sidequest: hunt the mark

knights of the round

art series card: yuna

FOIL battle menu

pack 3

tifas limit break

tonberry

zidane tantalus thief

ultimecia time sorceress

clive ifrits dominant

FOIL stuck in summoners sanctum

art card: hades sorcerer of eld

pack 4

ALT ART endwalker

ether

choco-comet

diamond weapon

astrologians planisphere

dion bahamuts dominant

FOIL iron giant

full art mountain

pack 5

ALT ART vaan aspiring sky pirate

reach the horizon

reno and rude

fire magic

choco seeker of paradise'

FOIL loporrit scout

full art forest

pack 6

ALT ART memories of nibelheim

snow villiers

rydia summoners of mist

eject

the wind crystal

FOIL Jenova Ancient Calamity

full art island

pack 7

the final days

choco-comet

adelbert steiner

ALT ART omega heartless evolution

starting town

FOIL item shopkeeper

FOIL insomnia crown city

art card: sages nouliths

pack 8

ALT ART crystal of alter cave

summon anima

graha tia

omega heartless evolution

sidequest catch a fish

zanarkand ancient metropolis

FOIL light of judgement

pack 9

sorceresses schemes

sleep magic

cactuar

garnet princess of alexandria

lindblum industrial regency

FOIL namazu trader

art card: cloud ex soldier

pack 10

fire magic

gaius van baelsar

snow villiers

alt art: summon choco/mog

gilgamesh master at arms

FOIL valkyrie aerial unit

full art swamp

art card: zidane tantalus theif

pack 11

ALT ART: vanadiel adventurers

black waltz no 3

the prime vista

evil reawakened

zodiark umbral god

FOIL garnet princess of alexandria

pack 12

reach the horizon

eject

rydia summoner of the mist

triple triad

balamb garden seed academy

FOIL blazing bomb

pack 13

ALT ART: thrum of the vestige

summon primal garuda

circle of power

ignis scientia

ultimecia time sorcreess

FULL ART balam garden seed academy

FOIL garland knight of cornelia

pack 14

phoenix down

realm sketching

reno and rude

fang fearless lcie

sin spiras punishment

FOIL choco-comet

full art mountain

pack 15

ALT ART princess sarah

summon esper ramuh

zack fair

clash of the eikons

summon primal odin

FOIL rydia return

FOIL sharlyana nation of scholars

pack 16

demon wall

ignis scientia

sandworm

kain traitorous dragoon

serah farron

FOIL quina qu gourmet

art card shadow mysterious assassin

pack 17

cargo ship

gaius van baelsar

ride the shoopuf

dark confidant

kuja genome sorcerer

FOIL mysidian elder

pack 18

ALT ART search for the frozen esper

relentless xatm092

samurais katana

restoration magic

sidequest: raise a chocobo

ALT ART: a realm reborn

FOIL tidus blitzball star

full art waste

pack 19

zack fair

summon esper ramuh

elixir

clash of eikons

ninjas blades

FOIL ultimecia time sorceress

art card: esper ramuh

pack 20

ALT ART: zidane tribal

rinoa heartilly

queen brahne

the gold saucer

sidequest card collection

the regalia

FOIL fight on

art card: braskas final aeon

pack 21

dragoons lance

coliseum behemoth

giott king of the dwarves

crysal fragments

a realm reborn

FOIL combat tutorial

full art plains

pack 22

elixir

random encounter

magitek armor

summon gf cerberus

Vivi ornitier >:3

FOIL sabotender

full art mountain

pack 23

self destruct

ride the shoopuf

adelbert steiner

cargo ship

the fire crystal

FOIL tonberry

FOIL gongaga reactor town

pack 24

torgal a fine hound

ambroisa whiteheart

the final days

the emperor of palamacia

bartz and boko

FOIL Kuja genome sorcerer

full art swamp

pack 25

tidus blitzball star

phantom train

ring of the lucii

crystal fragments

sazh katzroy

FOIL call the mountain chocobo

FOIL full art mountain

pack 26

ALT ART shadowbringers

cloud of darkness

stolen uniform

rydia return

ALT ART seifer almasy

FOIL resentful revelation

full art island

pack 27

ALT ART barnabas tharmr

poison the waters

coral sword

swallowed by leviathan

Squall seed mercenary

ALT ART summon titan

FOIL sahagin

FOIL full art island

art card: signed ruinous ultimatum

pack 28

magitek armor

random encounter

valkyrie aerial unit

lion heart

jecht reluctant guardian

FOIL the final days

full art plains

pack 29

self destruct

phoenix down

relm sketching

garland knight of cornelia

summon titan

FOIL ice magic

pack 30

summon primal garuda

diamond weapon

ether

exdeath void warlock

excalibur 2

FOIL summon primal garuda

art card: sephiroth fabled soldier

[lyinar]

I've completed my first full Lance of BattleMechs! It's not quite a full "Steiner Scout Lance", but these four Assault Mechs are the command Lance for Hellrazor's Hussars.

A Marauder II, a Nightstar, a Victor, and a Crockett.

[doolallymagpie]

you know what "Sportacus VS..." I'm interested in?

Steiner Scout Lance.

I wanna know how much ammo four Atlas pilots chew through trying to kill one (unfathomably athletic) man, and how humiliating their non-lethal defeat would be.

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

1a. I will admit to being puzzled by this point. I'm not entirely certain how BT plays fast and loose with logistics. If anything, it does so much less than 40K does, by virtue of trying to explain how things like keeping forces supplied works and having extended conversations about intrastellar logistics and the challenges thereof in a fair few of the novels. On an individual vehicle level, BattleMechs are much much more logistically efficient than a Tiger tank. Fusion engines and energy weapons alone solve much of the issues, and ammunition for non-energy weapons is something that has never been in danger of becoming LosTech - certain more advanced types of weapons have, but the humble LRM, autocannon, and medium laser never went out of production.

2. Characterizing the Tiger and Atlas as breakthrough vehicles doesn't really fit in either case though. Breakthrough tanks were designed to support the infantry in destroying fortifications and advancing through the main line of contact. This was the domain of the super heavy projects of the interwar. Heavy tanks like the Tiger weren't specialized for that sort of mission - they could definitely do so, for sure, but the Tiger was a tank killer. That's why the gun was the way it was. To breakthrough a line of fortifications, you want a howitzer firing some manner of shell with lots of HE filler to collapse the bunkers and such. A long barreled gun designed for armor penetration firing APHE or even APDS rounds does not make a good armament for a breakthrough tank. The Atlas, like the Tiger, was primarily made to fight (and overmatch) vehicles of its same type. Like the Tiger, it could perform breakthrough duty, but that was never its primary responsibility.

2a. Such things as "strict tonnage limits" only apply to the game(s), not the setting. This is this entire reason for the Steiner Scout Lance meme - a DropShip mechbay can carry and be used to repair any 'Mech up to 100 tons, so the choice of what 'Mechs to bring is limited only by the number of mechbays per DropShip, how many DropShips you have, and (most importantly) tactical considerations of what 'Mechs will fit the mission best, not necessarily their actual tonnage.

3. Glad to be of help with learning things! Though thinking about it some more, the presentation of MechWarriors as equivalent to chivalrous knights really is only present in the very original BattleDroids fluff, much of which is reconned or no longer relevant. Beyond that, I think it's just people seeing the implications that being a MechWarrior is a "great honor" (much like pop culture has convinced us that being a fighter pilot is, for example) and extrapolating from there.

[huntsman-ash]

If I really wanted to punch Rick in his Paladin I'd pull my Destroyer out of cold storage or just flex with an Atlas. And I mean the BIG Atlas.

“Because nothing says “fuck you” like kicking over a Paladin with the foot of a machine that outweighs it by like three times. Steiner Scout Lance tactics. Good stuff.”

[mechagalaxy]

John T Mainer 22840: Steiner Scouting

Steiner Scouting

There are some tropes that all commanders learn, some jokes that are so bad even Dad jokes seem reasonable in comparison. One of those just bit me in the ass this Clan Raid. It was my fault. The guys had been so good, so disciplined. You have to understand, fighting for Bronze in Division One is about not making mistakes. You have to fight smart rather than hard, because a whole lot of people who are just about your range but you don’t recognize (because they LIVE in division one and you don’t) are enough tougher than you that they might not notice you firing at them, which is good because you have better chances with Space Herpes than surviving their return fire.

My boys and girls were good, listened to the scouting reports, told of people who were unexpectedly tougher than normal, or lacking honour guard and softer than expected. We fought a good war, a smart war, and now Evil Santa descended upon us with Figgy Pudding and Frosty, leaving a trail of shattered bases and panic filled communications intercepts. We were the Bouncing Blue Berserkers, Division 1 brought some responsibilities; where Santa fell upon the lesser factions, it was ours to intervene. Let him test himself against Division One, see how Evil Santa fares against Abominable, see how he does not that Winter Is Coming, and for shites and giggles, see how Santa looks battling Pink Fluffy Unicorns.

I ordered the Berserkers to advance, Took the beacon in hand and drove it into the ground, activating the thumper. Signals pulsed from its candycane shaped pulse summoning the Raid, summoning Evil Santa and all the forces at his command. Now, what the hell were we facing? Time for some scouting.

“Santa is coming, Berserkers, SCOUTS OUT!”

I know what I thought I would get, but I had opened the bar at the close of the war, and that madman Werewolf had been caught spiking our Stim Packs and Combat Enhancers with Everclear. I have no idea what Lokki sprinkled on the Gingerbread Cookies but everyone who ate one started giggling and saying some weird things once the energy hit their system. Bottom line, the boys and girls had been holding hard to their discipline and were ready to cut loose, then we drugged them to the eyeballs, and sent them out to scout. I should have known what would happen. The first report rolled in.

What I should have got goes like this:

Contact report, (figures) mecha makeup as follows (list of types by mass with numbers of each). Followed by a quick and dirty take on the sensor sweep of their supply dump for possible loot. What I got was….well this.

The first clue, bad, I mean comic book bad German accents.

“Heinrick here, zee enemy is on fire”

“Dieter here, zee village is liberated, also on fire”

“Gretta here, stealth has been achieved, no one is left alive to notice us. Ve are very very stealthy!”

I looked at the raid total, and the numbers were scrolling past faster than I could clock them. My Bouncing Blue Berserkers were going berserk. Go figure, my scouts were not taking light formations to probe the enemy, they were taking their heaviest formations right down the middle and ripping arms off enemy mecha to beat the next rank flat with.

I hammered my mecha foot in rage as I climbed up towards the cockpit, screaming, probably futilely to get my boys and girls to give me a fracking scouting report with some actual information.

“Berserker Actual to frigging idiots, I need a breakdown of enemy numbers, type and composition. Now give me a frigging PROPER SCOUTING REPORT!”

I was halfway to my cab when the next wave of reports came in.

Even worse German accents this time, but technically what I asked for.

“Achtung! Enemy numbers are declining, I count them, one by one, but then they are broken, and I have to count again! Type is crunchy, composition, they are made of whirly bits, sparkly bits, and burny bits, held together by crunchy bits. Once you open them up, the whirly bits get sparkly and turn burny, it is very hard to tell them apart after that! Scouting is very difficult!”

I started to laugh, hanging onto my chain ladder just steps from my cockpit, and the next wave of reports came in.

“Friedrick here, my cockpit is full of bees, also, someone is shooting at me!”

“Mariea here, Friedrick turn left thirty degrees, you are about to step on the orphanage…..never mind, just stay straight and fire, once you run hot enough the bees will leave”

“Fritz here, I think it is hailing, there is something banging against my cockpit, also it is hard to see. I will keep scouting”

“Freidrick here, the bees are gone! Also the enemy is on fire and probably don’t notice me, I am a very good scout ja?

“Mariea here, Fritz, lean forward and sprint would you?”

“Ja Mariea, I will. Fritz here, command I have an update, it is NOT hailing, I had an Antithesis on my head, but it is OK, I rammed it into a Bismark, but now both are broken. I don’t know where I am, but everyone is on fire, or broken in very small pieces, so I too have achieved stealth. Scouting is fun!”

Laughing hard, I made it to the cockpit and jacked in, powering my Paladin and taking my force into the fray, fangs out and hair on fire. I could have given orders, but what the hell, I was just as tired of playing safe and fighting smart as the rest of my command. I gave the war cry my Faction had decided would be our unofficial doctrine of the day.

“STEINER SCOUT LANCE!” I screamed as I charged into the foe. Cutting loose with all my guns, I fired as fast as my weapons would cycle, I fought as fast as I could run between formations, fighting when I had taken so much damage my nanobot repair and medbots got a little confused and fused my pilot battlesuit and cockpit, I would have to cut myself out of my clothes to leave the cockpit. I had the muzzle of a Krampuslights fused into my cockpit armourplas, hey if its intact, I am totally keeping it, but right now it was healed in place. I fired and fired until I felt my mecha break through the ice of the Yukon river and steam exploded around my thighs as my red hot armour flash cooled. I was through the whole of the formation. I looked at my counter and it sulked back at me “Kill cap reached”

Christine called on the commlink. “Can I get a scouting report”

“Jawol mein frauline!” I replied. “None of zee enemy can see me, ze are all dead. I am a good scout ja? Also out of ammunition. I am excellent Steiner scout!” Her reply was quite unprintable.

John T Mainer 22840

[adornesibley]

Now, I’m not one to support Steiner, but this may call for a few Scout Lances.

Assault my base I dare you

[shivanwurm]

Steiner Scout Lance

@jobe00 @fuzzychief

[whiskey-hussar]

A whole lance of Hunchbacks: a "light" Steiner Scout Lance

As opposed to a pair of hunchbacks that will wreck anything in 6 hexes but have a really bad time closing to that range.

[totemwarriorsealth]

Clarke removed his hat in proper respect to the officers involved, and instead of a salute, gave a slight bow instead. Sealth was slightly less dramatic and instead put his fist to his heart. "The honor is mine." He spoke to Spirit. "I hope we will not be a dissapointment." Clarke waited till Sealth was done before making a comment on the Canopian forces. "Invisible special operations Mech lance. Sounds like the Nightstalkers." If there had EVER been any question as to Clarke's point of genetic origin, his accent would have cynched it. Though even there the almost century break between the Concordat and Protectorate showed; his vowels were smoother, his consonants far less sharp. "You know of them, Sergeant?" The Totem warrior quired. "Ay-ahem. Uh. Aff." The Clanner word sounded strange in the Sergeants mouth but he pushed past it with gusto. "Intelligence forces. For..." He glanced over at Theodora before continuing. "Aggressive reconnaissance, in force. By the MIM. Supposedly, they found a way to mask an assault so completely it could sneak up on someone while they were lookin' straight at it." The words Steiner Scout Lance hung unspoken in the air. The orca's brows furrowed but he spoke no disagreement. He simply made a thoughtful hum, and left it at that. He stepped up to the holotank and glanced over its surface. He had questions, but he also had faith they would be answered in time. "Congratulations are in order as well for you, Commanding General." He said, with all the seriousness of a Khan ordering the Annihilation of a fellow Clan. Which was how he tended to show things he took seriously and liked. "I am eager to hear how the wedding goes."

A soft chuckle. "You will most assuredly have to find a more impressive gift for her than the Steiner-Davians at theirs. But, I am sure you will manage."

@is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not

Fresh Orders, Round Table

The weather, it seemed, was turning towards rain. At least for the moment. For why, there were a dozen reasons. Localized weather instability. Atmospheric adjustment through aggressive particulate dispersal in the form of weapons fire and detonating mechs, and burning cities. Blakist mad science, once more bending what they should NEVER be touching to their whims...and inevitably failing, as they always did. Or it might just be the planets weather. Terra was not so different, he had heard. Even Unity City itself occasionally had short bouts of rain in the midst of their summers, showers that lasted a few hours or a day before weeks of bright sun would return. Sealth prefered the rain; being in dry air for too long made his skin irritated, and if bad enough, start to crack. It was painful, annoying, and had a frustrating tendency to get infected. He would prefer humidity and damp to direct sun, if he had choice... With luck, the new orders for the next operation wouldn't take him too far from the weather. The Totem Warrior strode through the SLDFs encampment, avoiding clumps of techs and soldiers of all stripes ensuring that everything was as it should be. No slacking here. Not under the Commander's watch, that was for sure. As it should be. He hadn't come alone; in addition to the small camera hung on his cooling vest to allow Tolki to listen in without having to leave his tank inside their Mech, he was followed by Sergeant Theodore "Tedd" Clarke, a hardened, sun-kissed man in a more rugged, almost cobbled together cooling vest, older but no less functional. The large wide-brimmed hat he wore at a casual angle would hint heavily where he had come from originally. Despite its technically lack of existence at this point, the Sergeant still bore the flag of the Calderon Protectorate, under the flag of the SLDF. He was part of Task Force Hawk, part of the infantry unit assigned, here to listen in for the ground troops that would be backing the Blackwatch for the strike. Sealth found the Commander's tent, and ducked in, glancing around inside before letting the other two in behind him. "We may be a little early." @is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not

[doolallymagpie]

This is one of those things your buddies will never believe you about: a very old Shadowhawk in SLDF Royal Brigade livery, packing a UAC/20, and you swear you saw a wolverine emblem on one shoulder, and the seal of the 331st Reginent on the other

But you saw it, and it cored every damn ‘Mech in that Steiner Scout Lance before they could reduce you to slag, and left without so much as a “how do you do”